Episodes

Andy Sonnier

He recently directed a Catholic men’s conference in Texas and is currently studying for candidacy for a Permanent Diaconate program in his Diocese.  On the sports side, he spent many years in athletic training, both with college teams as well as the then NFL Houston Oilers.

Notable guest quotes:

“I met my wife in 2014.  She was from here in Orange (Texas), and just through God’s Will and different things that happened in our lives, we ended up here in Orange.  After we got married, we lived in Louisiana for a few years, but then we eventually moved here last year.”

“The earliest memories I have was weekday Mass with my dad before the crack of dawn… When we’d walk out of Mass sometimes it was still dark.”

“As a kid I was very in tune with my faith.  Ya’ know, we grew up in church.  I went to Catholic school for a couple years, middle school, and it was there where I had an experience… I went to a seminary retreat and I really felt Jesus speak to me on a personal level.  And I really felt the calling to the priesthood at the time.”

“God’s got a plan for all of us, and I think He’s got other things still in store for me in the future.”

“I didn’t really have the opportunity to play a lot of sports as a kid because helping out on the farm was more important.  But I did have my share of time to play a little bit of pee wee football, Little League baseball, things like that.”

“I owe God all credit in the world for getting me through that year because without Him I don’t know where I’d be today.”

“God’s opened a lot of doors for me.  And I give credit to Him for everything that’s happened in my life.  God’s Will is a funny ride.  It can really be quite a journey.”

“We have to really spend time with God and let Him show us our paths in life.”

“None of my bad decisions in life was ever preceded by prayer.”

Related link:

Annual men’s conference

Jason Jones

He fought (Kyokushinkai) (Japanese karate) in the Tokyo Dome in Japan in 1995, representing USA, and continues to compete to this day. He had also played football in high school.  He is a movie producer and — among numerous other projects he has done — was the Executive Producer of a TV documentary called, “Mother Marianne: Portrait of a Saint.”  He is also the founder of Movie To Movement, which promotes the incomparable dignity and beauty of the human person through the power of film.  They just released a documentary that longtime NFL tight end Benjamin Watson is the executive producer of.

Notable guest quotes:

“As a boy I think I was lonely a lot, and I longed for companionship.  I also longed for a mentor.  And, that’s something you get from sports, right?  You get companions.  You get cohorts.  You also get coaches who are mentors.”

“There’s a sacramental nature of sports… It’s a secular sacrament in that when you’re competing, it’s a sign in a little moment of your life how you’re going to live the rest of your life.”

“For me, what sports taught me was honesty and sincerity.  You can’t fake it.”

“Here I was a black belt, a guy that fought in the world tournament… and an MMA fighter came from England and … said… that I was kind of a letdown.  But I’m so glad that happened… My buddy said, ‘This is part of your vocation’.”

“I love this little small type of media, ’cause we’re a tribe.  We’re guys who are Catholic guys, right?  This is like the locker room at your local Catholic high school, but now we’re old dudes but we love our sports.”

“All of us who are Catholics, when we go to whatever it is our sport is, we’re bringing Jesus Christ into our tribe.”

“I think the tribal aspect of sports is a great opportunity to share the gospel too.”

“When I read the New Testament, what really startled me was just this idea of God becoming man.”

“Saint Maximilian Kolbe was someone I discovered… that to me seemed to be the model of the type of person I wanted to be.  I wanted to be somebody that would risk all and give all for the vulnerable.”

“The Catholic moment isn’t when there are huge conferences and bishops are there selling box sets of DVD box sets.  The Catholic moment is when people are scattered, people are alone.”

Related link:

Movie To Movement website

(This episode contains a prayer by Fort Worth Christian Football League parent Linda Fleshman, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Joe Reich

He is in his 20th season as the head football coach at Wingate University, where he is the program’s all-time winningest coach.  Previously he was an assistant coach at the University of Buffalo, and before that he was an assistant coach at Gettysburg College and a graduate assistant coach at Georgia Tech.  As a student-athlete, he had played offensive line at Gettysburg College after having played football (and two other sports) in high school as well.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’m very fortunate in that I have two great parents that raised me up in the Catholic church… I was very, very fortunate that I had a parish priest… from the time I was little, that we had such a strong leader in the faith… all the way through high school.  I was an altar server all the way through high school.”

“My dad used to joke around with me and all the time he was, ‘You’re going to become a priest,’ and I’m like, ‘No, I’m not going to become a priest.  I’m going to have my own ministry, though.’ … And he’d say, ‘Look, you can have just as good a ministry by, you don’t have to become a priest to be a minister.  You can minister to a lot of people in the avenue that you want to go’.”

“I was pretty heavily involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (at Gettysburg College)… so it was nice to be able to grasp onto… the Fellowship of Christian Athletes… that kind of kept me centered, kind of kept me really involved in my faith a lot more… I was the vice president of FCA.”

“We actually had a Bible study that we started… and we got to the point where we would read one line and we would spend the next twenty minutes dissecting that line.”

“You’re always striving for something.  Like, God has kind of always put it on me, I’m going to strive to get better.  I’m going to strive to accomplish something.  I’m going to strive to help people.”

“Whatever doors the Lord opens up for us down the road, I’m open to going through ’em.”

“I tell our team all the time, the comparison game is a game you can never win.”

“Every Friday night we do a chapel service.”

“How you carry yourself, the type of language you use, the way you treat people with respect, and then in the private conversations … I hope that that comes about in those conversations and in the program that we run overall.”

Related link:

Joe’s full bio (Wingate U. football)

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Dominique Dawes

She spent ten years with the U.S. national team in gymnastics. Over the three Summer Olympic Games of 1992, 1996, and 2000 she won four medals, including gold at the Games in Atlanta and bronze at all three.  In world championship competition she had won three silver medals and a bronze.  In 2010 President Barack Obama named her as Co-Chair of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. And, earlier this year she opened a gymnastics academy in Clarksburg, Maryland.

Notable guest quotes:

“I would say my greatest achievements in life have really been, and continue to be, a mom of four little ones… My athletic achievements, though they were great and I made history, being a mom everyday, even during those tough moments, they beat standing on top of a podium any day of the week.”

“As a mom of four kids… and now a gym owner, I know the kind of environment that I want my kids to flourish in, and it’s one that’s going to be focused on compassion, positivity, and – in a healthy manner – helping kids face those mental blocks and face those fears, knowing that it’s coming from a place of love.”

“Throughout my career, at times I felt as if I was alone, whenever I was going through a dark period in the sport of gymnastics.  However, when I would take the time to go back to my Christian roots, I would realize that I was not alone.”

“Many times, when I wanted to quit, I wanted to give up, I was too tired or frustrated, I would lean on Him and realize that He was going to help me through.”

“I came into the Catholic faith initially in my late twenties.  I felt very called to go to a church in the Rockville (Maryland) area… And I don’t know what led me initially, but, I would go into the Catholic church and I would not go to Mass necessarily, but I would… walk in and really just sit in silence and connect with Christ, get to know Mother Mary a little bit more, sometimes pray, sometimes have a conversation, and really just sometimes sit in silence.”

“I really do feel as if I was led to the Catholic faith at that time because I really was feeling a little lost in the world and even a little lost in my Christian faith, just feeling a little incomplete and not feeling as if I was being led by Him.”

“When I felt led into the Catholic faith and going to RCIA, I chose Saint Kateri Tekakwitha as my saint of choice for my grandmother.”

“There’s so many great parts of the Catholic faith, but I love the connection with Mother Mary because I’ve never had a very strong healthy and deep relationship with a mother figure.  And so I’ve really leaned on her for guidance or leaned on her to kind of lead my way through Christ in my walk today.”

“They asked who would I want to sit down and have dinner with and (I said) Mother Angelica… And just having a great deal of admiration for Mother Angelica and her ministry and the great impact that she’s made globally on millions and millions of people and leading them to the faith and strengthening their faith.  So, just really admiring her heart and her pursuit and really her will in listening to Christ.”

“Christ… is with me and He is guiding me.   I just have to choose to shut off the noise of this world and listen to where it is that He’s leading me to be.”

“Even through hardships in life, it’s where He wants me to be and it’s where I’m going to be strengthened and where my character will truly be at its best.”

“We make it very clear that every kid that walks through our doors, they’re something special, they’re God’s gift, they’re unique, and they’re to be appreciated and valued.”

Related link:

Dominique’s Gymnastics Academy

(This episode contains a prayer originally from prayers-and-poetry.blogspot.com, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Bob Ladouceur

He coached for 35 years and, at De La Salle High School, a private, Roman Catholic school for boys in California, finished with a 399-25-3 record, including a national record 151 consecutive victories, which became the subject of a major motion picture. A number of his players went on to play and/or coach in the NFL.  He had played college football himself as a running back at the University of Utah and then San Jose State, and he is the author of a book called, “Chasing Perfection: The Principles Behind Winning Football the De La Salle Way.”  He also is a speaker who gives talks to parents, teachers, students, and even corporations.

Notable guest quotes:

“I went back to school.  I wanted to study religion, just out of interest.  And this was after I went on a Cursillo retreat when I was a sophomore in college.”

“Everybody loves to win.  That’s a given… And I thought that the power of ‘team’ supersedes anything you can do to try to get that success in terms of wins and losses.  And I really didn’t – I never talked about winning.  Never.”

“I never talked about winning.  I always talked about doing your job, being a good teammate, being a good student, being respectful, just, growing as a young adult.”

“I had wonderful coaches, dedicated Christian Catholic coaches too that understood the whole point of it, is that what we’re working for is community.  What we’re working for is improving ourselves.  And we did all the things that we needed to do in order to foster that.  We had a prayer service every Thursday right after school in our chapel.”

“We would select three kids from the team… and they had to come in with a song.  They had to come in with a gospel reading.  They had to come in with a complimentary inspirational story… It was a great team builder.”

“It was a focus not on winning, it was a focus on them becoming better people, and in the process, we become a better team.”

“We’re all mortal, and you can’t take life for granted… and you’ve gotta live it to the fullest.”

“It’s just one of the best things our school ever has done.  These kids come back really inspired and transformed.”

“She had quite a prayer line going in her favor, and I would not underestimate that power.”

Related link:

Bob’s book: Chasing Perfection: The Principles Behind Winning Football the De La Salle Way

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Hale Hentges

A pro football player who made his NFL debut last year as a tight end for the 2019 Washington Redskins team after initially having been with the Indianapolis Colts.  In college he had played for four years and won a national championship at Alabama after having been a top prospect following his high school football days.

Notable guest quotes:

“I grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, awesome town, right in the capital of Missouri, a really, really fun place to grow up.  My family was a big family.  My dad was Catholic.  My mom was a convert to Catholicism.  And I have three sisters, one who’s older and two who are younger.”

“I went to Immaculate Conception grade school, which is in Jefferson City.  It’s kindergarten through eighth grade… Great teachers, great faith formation, and they really did a good job of helping me understand the building blocks of the Catholic faith and helping me grow in the faith from a young age.  And I think the world needs more Catholic schools and that was a real gem in my development.”

“I went to Helias Catholic (high school), which is in Jefferson City… Another great opportunity to grow in my faith, and more great teachers and priests and people who really helped me grow in the faith.”

“I think another extremely big part (of choosing Alabama) was just talking to my dad.  I mean, we spent a lot of time on the road driving to different (colleges)… He was almost like a spiritual advisor for me…  Along with prayer I think that ultimately made me come to a decision that was extremely easy and clear at the end of it.”

“Head Coach Nick Saban… I was so fortunate and blessed to play for him, not just because he’s a great coach but because he is a strong Catholic man.”

“I wasn’t sure if I was good enough or big enough or fast enough to play in the NFL and it took a big leap of faith to just tell myself and, through a lot of prayer was, with God, and just trying to look for that validation that I am good enough to give the NFL a fair and honest chance and I should, if God has put this in my heart, I really should explore it to the best of my ability and give it my best shot.”

“I just thank God every day that that young kid didn’t give up and that God gave me the strength to persevere and pursue this goal.”

“I think God gives us those opportunities to overcome and lean on Him and trust in Him.”

“If you have an injury… that forces you to miss time, my best advice would be to just pray to Him, just go to Him and ask, ‘God, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I trust in Your plan and Your plan is better than mine.  Let Your will be done, not mine’.”

“God has given me this talent and ability and all of the glory goes back to Him… I obviously have to train and do all those things, but God gives me the desire to train, He gave me the ability to train, this body that He’s given me – all these things are His.”

“At the end of the day, it’s still just a game.  It’s not heaven.  It’s not the end goal.  It’s not everything you’ve ever dreamed of, because everything we ever should be dreaming of is eternal life with God.”

“The only thing that can fully satisfy you is a relationship with Jesus.”

Related link:

Hale’s official website

(This episode contains a prayer by Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Tomas Cerdeiras

An assistant coach for Belmont Abbey College’s men’s track and field. As a student-athlete there he became the school’s record-holder in the decathlon and earned All Region honors. He has also coached an NCAA DII All-American in heptathlon as well as a male and female freshman athlete of the year for their respective conferences.  Growing up he had competed in football, baseball, and basketball.

Notable guest quotes:

“When they had to leave (Cuba) because of the whole (Fidel) Castro thing, the one thing that they were able to take — you know, they lost everything, their farm, their families, and all that — but the one thing they were able to take when they moved here was their religion… My dad made it a thing to pass that down to us and to kind of share the importance of our religion, Jesus Christ.”

“Growing up it was rosaries every night, daily Mass, Mass on Sundays.”

“Homeschool was really, for me, what I remember, is reading a bunch of saint books… It kind of really helped me… growing in my faith.”

“My dad basically said, like, ‘Son, I don’t care where you go.  Just make sure it’s a good Catholic school, and we’ll worry about the money later’.”

“My dad, at the time, wasn’t sure how he was going to send… us to a private, liberal arts, Catholic school in North Carolina… He started to say a nine-day novena to St. Joseph… and on the last day of the novena we got a check for a large sum of money and all it said on the check was, ‘This is for Tomas’s education’.”

“I think I owe a lot of my spiritual life to a particular monk that I would go to for spiritual direction.”

“I was reading a lot into St. Padre Pio and all of his miracles and his relationship with God.”

“We go through valleys and mountains… But every time you get out of the valley, God gives you the gifts to kind of make you stronger and get you ready for heaven ultimately.”

“It was really just God saying, like, ‘This is the woman for you.’  And we would go to the chapel together and pray all the time.  And it was really a blessing.  And now we’re married.  We just bought our first house and God’s really blessed me with Julia and our marriage.”

“I was working at a secular school for a year and really what I was missing when I was working there was the religious aspect, ya’ know, being part of a Catholic school where I can preach about Jesus Christ.”

“One of my student-athletes, after talking to her… eventually she decided to convert to Catholicism and I was her godfather.”

Related link:

Belmont Abbey College Men’s Track & Field

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)